Smuttynose unveils high-tech electrical systems

Friday

Oct 4, 2013 at 2:00 AM

HAMPTON — Michael D. Fontaine helped write the book on electrical safety codes and often trains project managers. But on Thursday at the in-progress Smuttynose Brewing Co. brewery, he got to see first-hand some theory being put into practice.

Nick B. Reid

HAMPTON — Michael D. Fontaine helped write the book on electrical safety codes and often trains project managers. But on Thursday at the in-progress Smuttynose Brewing Co. brewery, he got to see first-hand some theory being put into practice.

As you walk along the halls of the brewery on Towle Farm Road, which are still largely empty and awaiting large brewing equipment, the LED lights come on as you enter and shut off after you pass through. They're about one-and-a-half times more efficient than the sort of lights you'd typically find in the rafters above industrial equipment and are equipped with motion sensors that allow them to operate only when needed, officials said.

"At a normal place like this, you'd turn the fluorescent lights on and they'd burn all day," said Don Ogert, an Interstate Electrical Services project superintendent at the Smuttynose site.

Fontaine has been an engineer for 35 years, an electrician, and an editor of the National Fire Protection Association's Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. He certainly is aware of technology like this. But he doesn't always have the chance to visit job sites and see it in action.

So members of Interstate Electrical Services, which is working on the Smuttynose construction site, invited him to have a look.

"There's a lot of innovative electrical stuff here. It's certainly a good opportunity for (the NFPA) to come in," said Bill Bernard, an Interstate Electrical Services safety officer.

Many of the most impressive technologies Smuttynose has implemented, Fontaine said, have to do with lighting. Besides the motion-sensored LED lighting, there are bright, circular glass domes spread throughout the roof. To the uninformed, they look like they too could be powered by LEDs, but it's actually sunlight pouring through acrylic domes on the roof that catch the sun's rays and magnify them.

Outside in the parking lot, the streetlights there are designed to save power, too. They use the same LED technology, but beyond that, each lamp can be controlled easily with a computer to keep some glaring until 2 a.m. — such as those next to the brewpub, which will be open at that time — while others across the campus will be completely shut out. In addition, the lights can sense the daylight and dim accordingly, coming back on strongly at night when they're needed.

To most, these are small details, but Fontaine appreciates the fact that even the emergency lighting are LEDs, and they shine a true color that's white and not blue.

"My wife says, 'You're always looked up when you go into a building'," he said.

Even down to the specific labeling on the main switchboard, which distributes power from the transformer outside, Fontaine noticed some implementation that intrigued him.

"I haven't seen anybody do this. This is a great idea," he said, pointing to a labeling system that described not only which panel a certain part of the switchboard was directing power to, but what transformer it'll go through along the way.

Also present on that switchboard were other safety features: such as color-coded tags that describe the sort of protective gear you'd need to be wearing to operate on them in an emergency when they're live, and a lock with a key that's only held but the chief electrician to ensure no one could operate while it's live unless he gives them the go-ahead.

The electricians said working on such equipment while it's live is strictly prohibited under almost all circumstances.

Ogbert, a Hampton resident, works all around the state on various projects, so he was enjoying the rare chance to work on something different, as well as something close to home. He said the vast majority of the work he does is on schools and hospitals.

"I'm having a ball here. It's teaching my crew a lot about industrial," he said.

And whether it's stainless steel enclosures that ensure electrical contents are totally waterproofed or ground fault circuit interrupters in the wall outlets, Fontaine confirmed Smuttynose is pulling out all the stops in its newest and greatest project.

Smuttynose officials have said they expect the new brewery to open by the end of the year. The brewery was designed by McHenry Architecture in collaboration with Electrical Design Consultants, according to Brandon Holben, a senior associate with McHenry, who said an "enormous effort went in to the design and coordination of this project to allow this exciting electrical technology to happen."

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
seacoastonline.com ~ 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service